heupdoek (English: “hip cloth”) is a term or concept described in Jongejan’s Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu in relation to Aceh. Once nearly indispensable clothing item, considered a sign that the wearer professed Islam.

Translation

hip cloth

Description

Once nearly indispensable clothing item, considered a sign that the wearer professed Islam. Now declining as European dress displaces it. Usually black cloth with ends sewn together; silk for festive wear.

Significance

The term heupdoek is recorded by Jongejan as part of the cultural, administrative, or institutional vocabulary of Aceh.

See Also

Source

Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 154.